VAC has been in business for many, many years, so if they are taking advantage of people then they wouldn’t have lasted this long. Never heard their equipment personally but they tend to gather great press. I’m sure much of the cost is the quality of their cabinets. I recall sometime back they built reissues of vintage Marantz tube pieces. Marantz could have chose any company to build these pieces, which apparently they couldn’t as well, but they chose VAC.
http://www.vac-amps.com/Marantz_Classics.htm
http://www.vac-amps.com/Marantz_Classics.htm